Player Profiles: Men

Andre Agassi (1)

Birthdate: April 29, 1970 Country: United States Height: 5'11" Weight: 173 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 58

Has won four of 11 tournaments this season; ranked No. 1 - at 33, the oldest to hold the position - for the second time this year; captured four of his first five events to start the year, including his eighth career Grand Slam crown in January at the Australian Open; also triumphed at the Tennis Masters Series event in Miami, Houston and San Jose; reached the semifinals on grass at Queen's Club in London and on hard courts at Washington; appeared in quarterfinals at the French Open and three weeks ago at the Montreal Masters; seeded No. 1 at the U.S. Open for the third time in his career; owns a 62-15 record at Flushing and has advanced to the final five times since 1990; was runner-up last year to Pete Sampras; won the first of his two U.S. Open crowns as an unseeded player in 1994; claimed the second in 1999 when he finished the year as the top-ranked player for the only time in his career; is one of just five men to complete a career Grand Slam.

Roger Federer (2)

Birthdate: August 8, 1981 Country: Switzerland Height: 6'1" Weight: 177 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 9

Put on a masterful display at Wimbedon to win his first career Grand Slam; used all-round skill and grace to post straight-set victories over two of the best servers in the game in Andy Roddick and Mark Philippoussis to become the first Swiss man to capture a major; tied with Andy Roddick for the ATP lead in titles with five; also won at Marseille, Halle, Munich, and Dubai; recorded runner-up finishes at the Rome Masters and Gstaad; a semifinal showing at the Canada Masters was his best outing during the summer hardcourt season; reached the fourth round at the U.S. Open the last two years and appeared in the junior boys' final in 1998.

Juan Carlos Ferrero (3)

Birthdate: February 12, 1980 Country: Spain Height: 6'0" Weight: 160 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 10

Won his first career Grand Slam title in dominating fashion at the French Open in June; is a career-best 50-12 on the year, with two more titles at the Monte Carlo Masters and at Valencia; also a finalist at Sydney and reached semifinals at the Rome Masters and Barcelona; appeared in his first career quarterfinal at a Grand Slam other than the French Open in January at the Australian Open; made it only as far as the third round at the U.S. Open the last two years after reaching the fourth round in 2000; has not had a successful leadup to the year's final Grand Slam, losing in the third round at Montreal and the second round at Cincinnati.

Andy Roddick (4)

Birthdate: August 30, 1982 Country: United States Height: 6'2" Weight: 185 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 10

Arrives in New York as the favorite to win his first career major; is tied with Roger Federer for the ATP lead in titles with five; has won 30 of 32 matches since teaming with coach Brad Gilbert in June and takes a 12-match winning streak into the U.S. Open; is only the third player in the past 15 years to amass 20 wins during the summer hardcourt season, joining Gilbert and Andre Agassi; also triumphed at Indianapolis to become the first player to capture at least three summer hardcourt events before the U.S. Open since Patrick Rafter did it in 1998; has won five of his last eight tournaments; appeared in his first two Grand Slam semifinals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon; won an epic five-hour marathon, 21-19 in the fifth set, against Younes El Aynaoui in the Melbourne quarterfinals; also claimed the crown at Queen's Club and St. Poelten and was runner-up at Houston and Memphis; reached the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open the last two years after falling in the first round in his debut in 2000 - the same year he won the Boys' crown.

Guillermo Coria (5)

Birthdate: January 13, 1982 Country: Argentina Height: 5'9" Weight: 145 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 5

This former leading junior player is starting to show his stuff on the ATP circuit; has won four titles this season, all coming on clay, and appeared in his first career Grand Slam semifinal at the French Open, where he ousted Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals; won his first Tennis Masters Series title in Hamburg; opened the year with a quarterfinal run in Auckland and a previous Grand Slam career-best fourth round at the Australian Open; reached the final at Buenos Aires and the fourth round at Miami; appeared in his first TMS final in Monte Carlo; won consecutive claycourt events this summer, but warmed up for the U.S. Open with a quarterfinal showing at the Cincinnati Masters; made his Flushing debut last year with a third-round loss.

Lleyton Hewitt (6)

Birthdate: February 24, 1981 Country: Australia Height: 5'11" Weight: 150 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 19

Despite winning two tournaments, the feisty Australian is having a down year by his standards; lost the No. 1 ranking he held the last two years; has looked distracted this season after parting with his coach, Jason Stoltenberg, before the French Open and has his ongoing lawsuit with the ATP stemming from a missed interview obligation hanging over his head; has a 30-9 record, which includes a 20-5 mark on hard courts, while playing a limited schedule; won titles at the Tennis Masters Series event at Indian Wells and at Scottsdale earlier this year, but suffered a humiliating defeat to a qualifier in the first at Wimbledon while trying to defend his crown; reached the final at Los Angeles last month before falling in the second round of the Canada Masters and first round at the Cincinnati Masters; captured his first career Grand Slam at the U.S. Open two years ago and reached the semifinals in 2000 and 2002.

Carlos Moya (7)

Birthdate: August 27, 1976 Country: Spain Height: 6'3" Weight: 177 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 11

Brings a three-match losing streak into the season's last Grand Slam; has won three claycourt titles this year, the last coming at Umag, Croatia in July; did not win a match at two summer hardcourt events; also won tournaments on clay in Barcelona and Buenos Aires and reached the final at the Miami Masters on hard courts in April; appeared in semifinals at the Monte Carlo Masters and Bastad and two more quarterfinals, including at the French Open; captured his lone Grand Slam crown at Roland Garros in 1998; also advanced to the semifinals at the U.S. Open later that year; has not gotten past the fourth round in Flushing since; was runner-up on hard courts at the 1997 Australian Open; was once ranked No. 1 in 1999, but suffered back injuries that caused his ranking to drop out of the top 40.

Rainer Schuettler (8)

Birthdate: April 25, 1976 Country: Germany Height: 5'11" Weight: 155 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 2

Advanced past the fourth round at a Grand Slam for the first time at the Australian Open in January and reached the final; continued his fine hardcourt form this summer with semifinal showings at the Canada Masters and Cincinnati Masters; also appeared in the semifinals at the Indian Wells Masters and Sydney; his career year also includes quarterfinal finishes at the Rome Masters, Stuttgart, Munich, Gstaad, Chennai, and Dubai; never made it out of the third round at the U.S. Open, losing in the first round last year.

Sebastien Grosjean (9)

Birthdate: May 29, 1978 Country: France Height: 5'8" Weight: 155 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 3

Started the season strong with quarterfinals at the Australian Open and Rotterdam, but injured his left thigh during France's Davis Cup quarterfinal in April; lost in the second round at the French Open, but rebounded to reach the final at Queen's Club and the semifinals at Wimbledon; his performance at the All England Club matched his previous best showings at a major - consecutive semifinals at the Australian and French Open in 2001; best outing during the summer hardcourt season was a quarterfinal at Los Angeles; is just 3-5 at the U.S. Open lifetime, losing in the first round three times and the second round last year.

Jiri Novak (10)

Birthdate: March 22, 1975 Country: Czech Republic Height: 6'3" Weight: 187 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 5

Recorded his biggest triumph to date at Gstaad in July when he knocked off Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in his own country in the final at Gstaad; reached the final at Dubai in February and helped the Czech Republic make it to the final of the World Team Championship before the French Open, where he advanced to the fourth round; has had his best results at a major at the U.S. Open, where he reached the fourth round last year for the second time of his career.

Paradorn Srichaphan (11)

Birthdate: June 14, 1979 Country: Thailand Height: 6'1" Weight: 180 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 4

Enjoyed a career-best season by winning two titles and reaching two other finals in 2002; became the first Thai player to finish in the top 20 and win an ATP tournament; was the first Asian in the top 20 since India's Vijay Amritraj was No. 20 in 1980; won a career-best 49 matches and notched the most hardcourt match victories on the tour with 40; looked as if he was going to continue that success this season when he opened by winning his third career title at Chennai; had never made it past the third round at any Grand Slam until advancing to the fourth round at Wimbledon; lost in the second round at the Australian Open in January and the first round at Roland Garros in May; was runner-up at Indianapolis during the summer hardcourt season, before winning Long Island.

Sjeng Schalken (12)

Birthdate: September 8, 1976 Country: Netherlands Height: 6'3" Weight: 185 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 8

His slow year perked up with a title at 's-Hertogenbosch in July; followed his first tournament triumph of the season by advancing to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the semifinals at Indianapolis - losing to the eventual winner each time; has gone 2-3 in his last three tournaments; snapped a string of 28 straight majors without advancing past the third round with a quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon last year; advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Open last September to become the first Dutchman to reach the semifinals in New York since Tom Okker in 1971.

David Nalbandian (13)

Birthdate: January 1, 1982 Country: Argentina Height: 5'11" Weight: 172 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 2

Became the first player in Open Era to reach the final of a Grand Slam in his debut, at Wimbledon last year; became the first Argentine to appear in the final of The Championships and the first South American in the title match since Peru's Alex Olmedo won the crown in 1959; began the year by reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open for the first time; also advanced to the quarterfinals in Buenos Aires and Scottsdale; reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and the finals at the Canada Masters; had an impressive junior career, winning the 1998 U.S. Open junior championship and the 1999 Wimbledon title; also was runner-up at the 1999 Roland Garros junior event.

Gustavo Kuerten (14)

Birthdate: September 10, 1976 Country: Brazil Height: 6'3" Weight: 167 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 18

Not the same player who won three French Open titles due to hip surgery in early 2002; showed he is not just a claycourt master with a title at Auckland to start the year; also reached the final on hard courts at the Indian Wells Masters; advanced to semifinals at Acapulco, Buenos Aires and two more quarterfinals at Barcelona, Los Angeles and Los Angeles; has appeared in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open twice in his career and the fourth round last year.

Fernando Gonzalez (15)

Birthdate: July 29, 1980 Country: Chile Height: 6'0" Weight: 180 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 3

Achieved his best Grand Slam showing last year at the U.S. Open by advancing to the semifinals and matched that performance at the French Open; played well on hard courts to reach the final at Washington earlier this month; also a semifinalist at Stuttgart and advanced to the quarterfinals at the Hamburg Masters, Umag, Estoril, and Acapulco; helped lead Chile to the World Team Championship crown in May on clay.

Martin Verkerk (16)

Birthdate: October 31, 1978 Country: Netherlands Height: 6'5" Weight: 198 Plays: Righthanded Career Titles: 1

Captured his first career title at Milan in February but made a bigger splash at the French Open, where he made a surprising run to the final; prior to Roland Garros, he had never won a Grand Slam match; spent most of his career on the Challenger Circuit and continued to excel in the minor leagues, winning a title and reaching another final; at the ATP level, advanced to the semifinals at St. Poelten and the quarterfinals at the Rome Masters.